The State of Stable Value
January 2012
Matt Gleason
Stable Value Relationship Manager
Matt is a Stable Value Relationship Manager, responsible for developing and communicating overall portfolio strategy to help clients meet their investment objectives and to ensure their servicing needs are achieved. Prior to his current role, he was Head of Stable Value at Dwight from 2010-2012, and served as a client portfolio manager for 12 years before leading the stable value effort. Before joining Dwight in 1999, Matt was an Investment Officer with Merchants Trust Company, a Performance Analyst at UBS Asset Management, and a Project Engineer with Perini Corporation. He is also a member of the Stable Value Investment Association. He earned his MBA from the University of Notre Dame, and BS from Cornell University. Matt has 19 years of industry experience.
More than three years following the onset of the credit crisis, most investors would have expected a substantial recovery in the stable value markets. It would have been reasonable to expect the return of wrap capacity to the market by now, particularly given the attractive fee levels and more conservative guidelines associated with wrap and insurance separate account contracts. In reality, the market continues to experience a variety of challenges: from the fear that market value to book value ratios will decline as rates eventually rise from historic lows, to uncertainty on the regulatory front. Nevertheless, plan participants continue to enjoy the capital preservation and stable income benefits that the asset class provides, even as bond and equity market volatility generates angst.
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David Starr
Stable Value Relationship Manager
Dave is a Stable Value Relationship Manager, responsible for developing and communicating overall portfolio strategy to help clients meet their investment objectives and to ensure their servicing needs are achieved. Prior to his current role, he was Head of Client Solutions and also a member of the Executive Management Team at Dwight. Over the course of Dave's career at Dwight, he has overseen Dwight's institutional business and client portfolio management. Dave began his career at Brown Brothers Harriman in 1979, and spent 10 years in a variety of corporate, private, and international banking positions. Dave is a member of the Vermont CFA Society and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Shelburne Museum. He is also a former member of the Stable Value Investment Association. Dave earned his BA in Economics from Duke University and has 33 years of industry experience.
The Impact of Financial Reform
June 2010
The Dodd-Frank bill, recently passed by Congress, can be considered the most far-reaching financial legislation in over 80 years. It will have a lasting impact on critical elements of the financial environment, including Federal Reserve oversight and transparency, rating agency protocol and behavior, credit risk retention, and derivatives treatment. Whether the legislation will actually serve to protect consumers or mitigate the risk of another financial crisis, however, remains unclear at best.
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Matt Gleason
Stable Value Relationship Manager
Matt is a Stable Value Relationship Manager, responsible for developing and communicating overall portfolio strategy to help clients meet their investment objectives and to ensure their servicing needs are achieved. Prior to his current role, he was Head of Stable Value at Dwight from 2010-2012, and served as a client portfolio manager for 12 years before leading the stable value effort. Before joining Dwight in 1999, Matt was an Investment Officer with Merchants Trust Company, a Performance Analyst at UBS Asset Management, and a Project Engineer with Perini Corporation. He is also a member of the Stable Value Investment Association. He earned his MBA from the University of Notre Dame, and BS from Cornell University. Matt has 19 years of industry experience.
Managing Duration in Today's Interest Rate Environment
June 2010
Background
Stable value funds are designed to be low risk, low volatility investment vehicles, with the foremost objective being the preservation of principal. The fixed income portfolios underlying stable value funds provide two potential sources of returns: interest income and capital appreciation. But wherever there is an opportunity for investment returns, there are also associated risks. In the bond markets these risks come in the form of credit risk, liquidity risk, and interest rate risk.
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Matt Gleason
Stable Value Relationship Manager
Matt is a Stable Value Relationship Manager, responsible for developing and communicating overall portfolio strategy to help clients meet their investment objectives and to ensure their servicing needs are achieved. Prior to his current role, he was Head of Stable Value at Dwight from 2010-2012, and served as a client portfolio manager for 12 years before leading the stable value effort. Before joining Dwight in 1999, Matt was an Investment Officer with Merchants Trust Company, a Performance Analyst at UBS Asset Management, and a Project Engineer with Perini Corporation. He is also a member of the Stable Value Investment Association. He earned his MBA from the University of Notre Dame, and BS from Cornell University. Matt has 19 years of industry experience.
Revitalizing Stable Value
April 2010
The credit crisis of 2008 and ongoing market volatility in 2009 highlighted several aspects of modern stable value portfolio strategy that must be addressed to ensure that the asset class continues to thrive in the future. Stable value market dynamics have changed given wrap capacity limitations, and the industry has been unable to resolve the current market stalemate. The capacity limitations that arose during the credit crisis and a lack of new entrants dedicated to the wrap market are beginning to test the patience of many plan sponsors and consultants. Dwight’s view is that wrap capacity will continue to be constrained for a protracted period of time and that fundamental changes are needed to bring the risk/reward paradigm back into balance.
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